CAVC – Leading the Charge for Tax Equality

CAVC board meets with Diane Harkey, State Board of Equalization.  Discussing taxation on macro markets.  Left to right, Larry Atnip Atnip Co., Rawn Wanamaker Canteen, Sandy Larson NAMA, Diane Harkey BOE, Pete Tullio Gourmet Coffee Service, Paul Tullio Gourmet Coffee Service, Chip English Continental Vending

 

CAVC board meets with Diane Harkey, State Board of Equalization. Discussing taxation on macro markets. Left to right, Larry Atnip Atnip Co., Rawn Wanamaker Canteen, Sandy Larson NAMA, Diane Harkey BOE, Pete Tullio Gourmet Coffee Service, Paul Tullio Gourmet Coffee Service, Chip English Continental Vending

The members of California Automatic Vendors Council continue to lead the charge in tax equality and micro market awareness.

For three years, CAVC has been working side by side with Los Angeles Department of Environmental Health on fair and equitable permitting for micro markets. The plan, developed by LA County, will serve as a blueprint nationwide for other vendors use when introducing the micro market concept to local, state, and federal agencies.

Our next hurdle is to set reasonable standards in respect to taxation.  Environmental healthcare agencies see micro markets as markets, not vending.  We are required to comply with rigid standards set forth for restaurants and convenience markets. That includes plan checks, inspections, and specialized permits to operate as a market.  Because we are categorized as a market, is is CAVC’s position that micro markets should collect tax like a market.  That is, no tax on items that would not be taxed in a market.  Carbonated beverages would continue to collect full tax and bottle deposit.

CAVC members have invested time and energy in lobbying locally and nationally throughout the years.  During our travels, we have developed relationships with many of our representatives, including Diane Harkey. Representative Harkey was recently elected to the California State Board of Equalization.  We hope our exposure on a legislative level will help us have a favorable resonation to the currently unfair tax burden.

Chip English
Continental Vending
Treasurer,

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED – Oppose DOE’s Proposal Creating New Energy Conservation Standards for Vending Machines

Happy Friday CAVC members! Before you leave the office for the weekend please take a moment to make your voice heard to the Department of Energy (DOE)

As you know, we’re fighting a very important issue at DOE regarding energy efficiency standards for vending machines. It would cripple the industry if implemented as imposed. Below is the member alert. It would be much appreciated it you could push ALL of your team/employees to take two minutes and click the below link to send a message to DOE. We need at least 500 emails from industry to go to DOE to have an impact. We are close to 95 emails/letters so we’re on the way, but your help with your employees would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks for all that you do for our advocacy efforts!! Here is the letter from NAMA, you’ll find the necessary link to make your voice heard below:

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Dear NAMA Member,

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently issued a proposed rule creating new energy conservation standards for beverage and combination vending machines. The proposed standards would create an extreme financial burden on small businesses and the refreshment services industry at large. They will also lead to enhanced manufacturing costs and increased prices on vending machines for operators. NAMA and machine manufacturers are already actively opposing this burdensome and unreasonable proposal and we are asking you to take a minute and let the DOE hear your voice opposing this proposal.
The primary reasons for opposing the DOE’s proposal are that the standards are not technologically feasible or economically justified and are more stringent than the current ENERGY STAR standard. Furthermore, the DOE has not provided the industry or consumers with proof to substantiate their claim that there are existing beverage machines that meet the proposed standard levels. Also, their definition of combination vending machines is inconsistent with industry.

 

Please Click Here to submit your comments. The comment period closes Monday, November 23rd at midnight EDT.

 

Thank you for taking the time to submit comments on the DOE’s proposed changes. Your participation is important to our success on this issue. If you have recently signed a letter on this issue at the Coffee, Tea and Water event please do not complete this electronic request, as your signed letter is being submitted in paper form.

 
Sincerely,

Eric Dell

NAMA Sr. Vice President of Government Affairs

 

 

Embracing Change

Dear CAVC Members,

Our new website is here!! Thank you for your patience waiting on its arrival. One piece of business before we really get this blog going; the one page that is yet to be finalized is the Members Page. If you have yet do so please send over a high resolution jpeg of your company logo and the best phone number and email to reach your company at. Okay…on to the blog:

At J&J we just installed LightSpeed this week. I have been a nervous wreck waiting on this, dreading the process of making all of our data systems work with one. And although it’s been a busy week it hasn’t been an awful week. And now that it’s just about over I am so excited about what this change means for the growth of our business (I literally just cried tears of joy when I was told the system would know to replace regular Snickers bars in our micro markets with the Halloween Pumpkin Snickers until Halloween and then it would revert back to standard Snickers bars…it’s the little things in life that make a big difference).

I  titled this blog Embracing Change instead of New Website because in large part the delay in getting this thing launched has come from me. Although I’m a millennial I don’t like technology. I actually dislike almost everything that’s new because I dislike not knowing things. I had no idea how to create a website, what content should be included, what pictures should be included, etc. In short the project seemed too big. But actually once I got started, with the help of Tara at VendCentral, the whole process was really simple.

My point in all of this is that if you are a CAVC Member and haven’t embraced technology yet please do so. It’s a lot easier than it might seem and in the long run will make life much easier. I promise.

Here are some things to do if you haven’t done so already: (Sidenote: This is based on my own experience. I’m sure there are a lot of things I’m missing, some things I’ll recommend that you dislike but these are just suggestions based on what’s worked for J&J. Take away what you like and leave the rest behind.Also, please note none of the below programs or products are in any way endorsed by CAVC and CAVC is not making these suggestions.

-Install a warehouse pick system. So far we LOVE LigthSpeed. The staff has been awesome and the program is very user friendly (even I understand it).

-Adopt mobile payment methods

-Update YOUR website. Not sure where to begin? I highly suggest contacting Tara@vendcentral.com. I loved working with them on this project. If you do decide to update your website here are some things to make sure you include:

  • Social Media – Get a Facebook, write a blog, share on instagram, etc. Everything time these things are updated they increase your SEO (search engine optimization, the thing that makes sure you show up in a Google search)
  • A call to action phone number and email at the top of the home page. Make it easy for people to get a hold of you
  • An “Our Story” page. Today’s consumers want to feel like they a part of something. Make them feel like they are a part of your story

– Once you update your website pay someone to manage your SEO. We use BrandRep and love them. It’s seriously been worth every dime.

Alright, CAVC. That’s it for now. Enjoy the website! Embrace change!

Sincerely,

J. Skidmore

 

 

 

NAMA’s Inaugural Fly-In Soars – And We Were There!

Last Week over 200 members of NAMA flew in to Washington D.C. to advocate on behalf of the vending industry with members of Congress. Take a look at some of the photos from our CAVC attendees and read the official press release from NAMA below!

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CHICAGO – July 24, 2015 – More than 200 NAMA members and guests convened in Washington D.C. this week for NAMA Takes the Hill, far exceeding the expectations for the association’s inaugural Fly-In, according to Eric Dell, NAMA’s SVP of Government Affairs.

“This first-ever Fly-In was a tremendous success by any metric,” Dell said. “We are blown away by the support this event received from our members, sponsors and legislators.  The impact and value of the relationships we’ve enhanced with lawmakers is critically important as we expand NAMA’s footprint in Washington. The Fly-In demonstrated advocacy in action without question and will help move the needle on the industry’s most significant issues.”

Attendees representing 35 states plus D.C. took part in more than 180 meetings with elected officials and their staffs from both the Senate and the House. Discussions focused on three major issues – Calorie Disclosure/Health and Wellness, the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act and Coin and Currency. Some of the largest state delegations included Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and California.

More than 400 people attended a NAMA-hosted reception at the U.S. House Rayburn Building on Capitol Hill showcasing high-tech vending machines – including a Crane FitPick machine, two diji-touch® machines and Canteen’s enr.G® machine stocked with a selection of the industry’s “better for you” and FitPick-compliant products, along with traditional favorites.

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), Chairman of the House Small Business Committee; Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY); Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS); Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA); Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) were among the legislators, Congressional staffers and Fly-In participants at the event which underscored the industry’s commitment to nutrition and choice.

Tuesday evening preceding the Capitol Hill meetings, NAMA hosted an advocacy education session and dinner featuring Congressman Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) and Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) and Power Plays: The Race is On, which featured D.C. insiders Sean Spicer, Chief Strategist and Communications Director for the Republican National Committee, and Mo Elleithee, Director of Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service.

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Legislative Day 2015

Over the last 48 hours, members of CAVC met with various California State Assembly Members and their assistants to show their support of AB 155, a bill that seeks to remove the tax from items sold through vending machines that are not taxed in other retail locations.

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Through the joint efforts of CAVC operators, distributors, manufacturers and our lobbyists the offices of 24 State Assembly Members were visited. After a successful day at the Capitol we are more hopeful now than ever before that this year will be the year to get this inequity in the law resolved.

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CAVC members meeting with Assembly Member Brian Jones

Below you can find more information on bill AB 155, taken directly from the fact sheet written by Assembly Member Matt Dababneh.

Sidenote: If you are a California Vendor and not a member of CAVC, join! We need you and in the words of Elon Musk, “[You] could either watch it happen or be a part of it.”

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CAVC members with Assembly Member Matthew Dababneh.

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CAVC Members with Assembly Member William Brough.

IN BRIEF: 

AB 155 would remedy an inequity in California’s tax law regarding the taxation of items sold through vending machines.  The legislation would ensure that the existing tax exemption on food products will apply to all retail locations.  Food products that are exempt from taxation when sold in grocery stores, convenience stores, and catering trucks should also be exempt when those same items are sold through vending machines.

THE ISSUE/PROBLEM:

In 1987, Section 6359.2 was added to the Revenue and Taxation Code; this changed the sales tax rate on certain “food products” that are sold through vending machines. Currently under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 6359 and 6359.2 food products, except carbonated beverages, liquor and hot prepared foods, that are sold for human consumption, through retailers such as grocery stores, convenience stores and other retail outlets are exempt from sales tax. Currently those same food products sold through a vending machine are subject to sales tax on 33 percent of the gross receipts.

The vending operators in the State of California view this as an unfair tax. They are seeking parity with other retailers in the state that do not pay sales tax on food products. The exact items which vending operators sell through their vending machines are not taxed when sold in grocery stores and convenience stores. Because of the disparity in the law, vending machine operators are forced to either absorb the sales tax or pass it on to consumers.  Absorbing the tax hurts the bottom line for an industry that operates on small margins and is made up of many small businesses.  Passing the tax on to the consumer means increasing the tax burden on working people, students, and military personnel in the state who make up a large percentage of the vending industry’s customers.

THE SOLUTION:

It is the position of the vending operators in California that their companies and their customers should not be forced to pay tax on food products that would be exempt if they were purchased at a retail location rather than through a vending machine.

AB 155 would fix this inequity in California’s tax code by ensuring that the tax exemption on food products applies regardless of whether the food products are sold through a grocery store, convenience store, catering truck or vending machine.

SUPPORT:

Business Enterprise Program for the Blind

California Automatic Vendors Council

Atnip Company

BBI

Biscomerica

Canteen of Coastal California

Continental Vending

Downey Vendors

Gourmet Coffee Service

GVR Services

J & J Vending

Rendezvous Music & Vending

Tri R Coffee

Vend Catering Supply

Vend Mart

California Automatic Vending Council (CAVC) Joins Industry Partners for Successful Lobby Day at Capitol

CAVC Legislative day 2013

(CHICAGO) May 23, 2013 – The California Automatic Vendors Council (CAVC) held its annual lobby day in Sacramento on May 15.  More than 25 CAVC members met with lawmakers to communicate their opposition to pending legislation including a bill restricting what can be sold in vending machines on government property and another that places a one cent per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.

             The vending industry is facing serious challenges in California,” CAVC President Larry Atnip said. “It was productive to meet with legislators and educate them on the impact the proposed bills would have on businesses throughout the state.”

             The CAVC and legislators also discussed tax inequality in California. Currently, vending operators pay sales taxes on items that are not taxed in grocery and convenience stores.

Pete Tullio, incoming NAMA chair, said operators around the United States are dealing with similar legislative issues. “NAMA and our members throughout the country need to stay involved in the legislative process at the state and local level to protect the industry,” Tullio said. Tullio was joined by his son, Paul Tullio, chair of NAMA’s committee of young leaders.

            “The legislative day enables CAVC members from throughout California to educate and interact with legislators,” said Sandy Larson, NAMA’s senior director and counsel of government affairs. “Many of the legislators we met with are in their first term and this event provided an ideal opportunity to tell our story and establish a working relationship we can build on.”

             Founded in 1936, NAMA is the national association representing the $42 billion U.S. vending and refreshment services industry.  With more than 1800 member companies – including many of the world’s most recognized brands – NAMA provides advocacy, education and research for its membership.